NO on Stephen Clark for Federal Judge

Trump’s judicial nominee Stephen R. Clark has been a lawyer and activist against women’s reproductive rights and same-sex marriage equality for years.

Clark described medical schools that partner with Planned Parenthood as “training the abortionists of the future.”

He has counseled right-to-life groups on obstructionist tactics against abortion providers for so-called “coerced abortions.”

In a lawsuit against contraceptives coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Clark used misinformation from medical advisors who said using contraceptives leads to “increased risk-taking and sexual behavior.” These medical advisors have been debunked for their unproven theories.

Until last year Clark was a director of Lawyers for Life, a right-to-life group. Their newsletter said “Roe v. Wade gave doctors a license to kill the unborn,” and that Roe v. Wade was “bad law.”

An opponent of same-sex marriage, Clark has said: “one of the next evolutions of same-sex marriage is polygamy.”

Now that he is considered for a lifetime federal judgeship, Clark has tried to walk back from these inflammatory and/or bigoted statements. He claims he can be an impartial and objective judge to follow Roe v. Wade. Yet his 180-degree turnaround defies common sense.

It also makes one wonder why Trump and Pence have chosen this extremist for a federal judgeship, if not for his far right-wing views.

Clark has been nominated for a lifetime judgeship for a federal district court in Missouri. Indivisibles and other progressive groups in Missouri are mobilizing against this nomination. It takes 51 votes in the Senate to stop a nomination, so they need the votes of out-of-state senators like yours.

Please help our fellow resisters in Missouri, and ask your members to call your Senators to vote against Stephen R. Clark’s nomination.

Script:

Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent from [zip code]. I’m calling to ask the Senator to vote NO on the nomination of Stephen R. Clark to be a federal judge. I’m concerned that Clark is a longtime activist against a woman’s right to choose, contraceptives, and same-sex marriage. I doubt that he can set aside his extreme partisanship, and I’m worried that he will be a biased judge. Please vote against Stephen R. Clark’s nomination.